The $14 MP3 Player
Posted by Wesley on
Package arrives...
While Apple iPod is dominant in most of the world's portable MP3 player market, there are always some niche products scattered around. One such class is the MP3 players that are very cheap because they lack any on-board storage. They use the flash memory cards you plug in for the storage instead. If you somehow end up with a flash memory card left over doing nothing useful, these MP3 players may attract you, despite common sense telling you it's money wasted. Here's my story.
Recently, I was contemplating what to do with a 1GB SD card that was sitting idly on the desk. After some train of thoughts I ended up looking for cheap MP3 players that used memory cards for storage. I could find about four different models of them around various online shops. Obviously, I chose the cheapest one available, since these devices are basically the 'disposable' kind of consumer electronics and any extra premium wouldn't be worth it. After discounts, the device cost me $14, with about $2 shipping cost extra.
Doesn't look half bad
The MP3 player came in a plastic case as seen above. Most of the stuff I keep around is white, silver, or black, so I ordered a silver version. It's also available in red and blue colours, though. Apparently, it was sold as an "SD/MMC Card Reader" that also happens to support MP3 playback. I'm not quite sure which one is getting emphasized, though, since it says "MP3" in huge letters at the bottom.
Features!
The back side reveals the features of this device. Hmm... it looks like it wants to be sold as an MP3 player, after all: top feature is "high quality MP3 file playback". The reader functions are pretty much industry standard. As for the USB compatibility, it says "USB 1.1/2.0", but it's actually just 'Full-Speed' (12Mbps, maximum USB 1.1 speed). At this price point expecting 'Hi-Speed' (480Mbps, maximum USB 2.0 speed) connection wouldn't be fair.
All that for $14
Here's the whole package unpacked. You get the MP3 player, a driver CD (for Windows 98), a pair of white earphones, an AAA alkaline battery, instruction manuals (English and Korean, the latter provided by the reseller), and a warranty card. Despite the cost, you get everything needed to listen to MP3s, with the obvious exception of the memory card. It must be incredibly cheap to produce these stuff.
Now, I need to point out that this MP3 player lacks any indication of where it was produced or who made it. I'm quite sure it was made in China, but neither the box nor the player itself had any brand or model number printed. Even the warranty card had no mention of the company name or phone number. An article from Digital Times (in Korean) and certain online shops call the device as "DoNow DM-S1000" but information is scarce beyond that.
The player, close-up
Anyways, the device has five rubber buttons (volume up & down, previous & next track, and play/pause) and two LED indicators (blue and red) on top. One corner has the mini USB connector and the earphone jack, while the other corner has the memory card slot. The buttons press fine, and there's an audible click when you press them.
Thick as a battery
It's about 9mm thick, comparable to an AA battery (on the left). The player uses a single AAA battery to power it (on the right).
Measuring up
Viewed from top, it measures 55mm by 58mm, slightly longer than an AA battery. It's not difficult to carry it around the shirt pocket or hang it around the neck.
Battery goes in
On the back of the player, you can open up the battery compartment to put an AAA battery in. Shown in the picture is the bundled battery.
Flash memory goes in
The SD card (or MMC card) can be inserted into the device like this. It will make a clicking sound when pushed in, and gets locked. The card can be taken out by pushing it again.
Next up, I'll be disassembling it...